女中豪杰（二）

小瓊：因为国际妇女节的缘故，3月份总是让我心情激动。上个月我们讨论了《军中女郎》的玛丽一角。这个月，我们来着重关注几部讲真人真事的歌剧作品。

小薇：我们要研究的是古代历史还是现代历史呢？我知道美国作曲家塞缪尔·巴伯所作的《安东尼与克里奥佩特拉》。这部作品1966年9月16日在纽约林肯中心演出，曾作为大都会歌剧院的揭幕，因此不少人听说过它的名字，但不过今天已经很少上演了。

小琼：这部歌剧是在莎士比亚的同名历史剧基础上创作的。生活在公元前69年至前30年间的克里奥佩特拉是埃及托勒密王朝最后一位活跃的统治者。她因美貌与权力而知名，与恺撒大帝和后来的马克·安东尼都有过暧昧关系。这位“埃及艳后”还曾发动过战争以便让自己的国家更加强大。

小薇：塞缪尔·巴伯这部歌剧最出彩的地方在于蕾昂泰茵·普莱斯（同样是一位女强人，也是一名优秀的女高音！）在该剧世界首演时饰演了克里奥佩特拉。

小琼：悲伤的是，《安东尼与克里奥佩特拉》的世界首演是一场巨大的失败。这是数十年后在大都会歌剧院取得非凡成就的弗朗哥·泽菲雷利所执导的早期作品之一。

小薇：歌剧中还有很多杰出的现代女性角色吧。

小琼：我还能想到的是苏珊·B.安东尼。她是废奴主义者和女性选举权的先驱：她反抗奴隶制度，也在为美国女性的选举权而斗争（这直到她去世十年多以后，1919年的美国宪法第十九修正案通过后才得以实现）。维吉尔·汤姆森的《我们大家的母亲》描绘了她为社会变革而做出的行动以及其思想，其台本则正是由当时最重要的美国女性作家格特鲁德·斯坦所创作。

小薇：一定还有其他的现代人物角色吧。我还记得大约十年以前英国作曲家马克-安东尼·特内奇写的一部歌剧，就是关于一位颇为当代的人物——安娜·妮可·史密斯。

小琼：这位著名时装模特的感情纠葛，尤其是她和一个有钱老翁的第二段婚姻，成了无数小报的“料”。这个悲剧故事一直到她因滥用处方药而离世才结束。

小薇：这三部用英语演唱的歌剧展示了歌剧女主角们在舞台上、歌剧里因美貌或智慧而得到的力量，尽管结局或喜或悲。

Joan： Im always excited in March because of International Womens Day. Last month we discussed Marie from The Daughter of the Regiment； this month， I want to highlight a few operas based on real people.

Valery： Are we dealing with ancient or modern history？ Ive heard of Antony and Cleopatra by American composer Samuel Barber. Many remember this opera by name because it opened the Metropolitan Opera House at New Yorks Lincoln Center on September 16， 1966， but the work is rarely revived today.

Joan： The opera was based on Shakespeares historical play of the same name. Cleopatra， who lived between 69 and 30 B.C.， was the last active ruler of Egypts Ptolemaic Kingdom. She was famous for her beauty and her power， having had romantic liaisons with Julius Caesar， and later with Mark Antony. She waged wars and ruled over her people.

Valery： One of the most important reasons why Samuel Barbers opera was spectacular was that Leontyne Price （also a spirited woman and great soprano！） played Cleopatra at its world premiere.

Joan： One sad fact about Antony and Cleopatra was that the world premiere was a huge failure. It was one of the early productions directed by Franco Zeffirelli， who decades later became so successful at the Metropolitan Opera.

Valery： I guess there are more modern historical figures too in opera.

Joan： I also have in mind Susan B. Anthony， who was a leading abolitionist and suffragette， fighting against slavery and for the right to vote for American women（that didnt come till the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1919， more than 10 years after she died）. Virgil Thomsons opera The Mother of Us All depicts her actions and ideas for social change， with a libretto by none other than the major American female writer of that time， Gertrude Stein.

Valery： There must be other modern figures. I remember some 10 years ago， British composer MarkAnthony Turnage wrote an opera based on a fairly contemporary figure， Anne Nicole Smith.

Joan： She was the model whose romantic entanglements—especially her second marriage to a rich， old man—were the fodder for the tabloids. It is a tragic story， all the way to her untimely death by prescription drug overdose in 2007.

Valery： These three operas， all sung in English， show that on stage and in opera， beauty or brains empower operatic heroines， whether the outcome is happy or tragic.